Author: Pierre Roux

Article: Eye Dominance & Compound Archery

The general definition of eye dominance is when your brain relies more on one eye over the other. It’s completely normal, and a natural condition due to having two eyes with almost a full overlap of vision between them.

Aim left, or right?

Eye dominance and sports which involve aiming, like compound archery, can greatly influence the athlete and their equipment.

A left-handed archer is normally assumed to be left eye dominant, and similarly a right-handed archer is assumed to be right eye dominant. This is not always the case, with plenty of right-handed archers being left eye dominant, and vice versa. This often leads to right-handed athlete choosing to shoot left-handed, and vice versa.

The archer should be given the opportunity to see which is most comfortable for them. It may be easier to a left-handed, right eye dominant archer to shoot right-handed.

Which eye to close?

A left-handed archer would close their right eye during aiming, while a right-handed archer would close the left.

The first time a coach would normally pick up on an eye dominance crossover, is when showing an archer how to aim, or while observing general shooting.

If a new archer tends to either close the wrong eye, or try and place the peep in front of the wrong eye, it’s normally an indication to establish eye dominance through a simple test. After eye dominance has been established, the coach and archer can discuss a strategy on how to deal with the situation.

There will however be cases where the archer cannot close the non-aiming eye, or see double due to aiming with both eyes open. This is a completely normal, but very uncomfortable experience for the archer. In this situation an eye blinder, or eye cover, is strongly suggested.

There’s plenty of eye blinder options out there, and they’re typically a translucent or solid plastic cover which attaches to the peak of a cap with a specialised, lightweight clip.

A couple of Simple Tests

Here’s two simple eye dominance tests that an archer could perform.

Test 1: One Arm & Thumb

  1. Extend out one arm while holding the thumb of that hand in an upright position.
  2. Keep both eyes open and focused on a distant target.
  3. Place your thumb on the centre of the target. It may look like your thumb partially disappears, or you may get double vision.
  4. Alternately close one eye at a time.
    • You will find that for one eye, the target is off to the side, while the thumb will be in the centre for the other eye. The eye that keeps your thumb directly in the centre of the target is your dominant eye.

Test 2: Both Arms & a Gap

  1. Extend your arms out in front of you. Create a triangular opening between your thumbs and forefingers by placing your open hands together at a 45° angle and holding it up so you can see through the gap.
  2. With both eyes open, centre this opening on a distant target.
  3. Close your right eye.
    • If the object stays centred, your currently open eye (left eye) is your dominant eye.
    • If the object is no longer framed by your hands, your right eye is your dominant eye.

Conclusion

Eye dominance is one of those things that we encounter in archery, and it’s definitely not an insurmountable obstacle. The archer can work with a coach to work out what is best for them, and build a strategy based on that.

Article: Choosing your new Compound Bow

Purpose

Consider what the bow will be used for. There are many purpose-built target bows in the market, with manufacturers like Hoyt, PSE and Matthews leading the pack.

Newer offerings include mybo, Pandarus and the likes of Sanlida.

Budget

The likes of Hoyt, mybo, PSE and Mathews have very capable bows in their flagship range, but the likes of PSE and Darton have some very convincing offers in the budget friendly range.

Set your budget and see what fits into that.

New or Second Hand

A new bow brings with it a warranty, and that “new bow” feeling. A well looked after second-hand bow could come as a package and set up, ready to practise.

It’s also likely that you can save quite a bit of money on a second-hand bow, which is a bonus when you’re new to the sport and still trying to make up your mind.

Fit & Comfort

When considering a bow, it’s important to consider the fit, like the string angle at full draw, which is a factor of both the effective axle-to-axle length and draw length.

It’s a good idea to understand what size axle-to-axle bow would typically suit the archer. For somebody under 1.7m, a 34″ axle-to-axle would typically be a good fit. For somebody over 1.8m, a 39/40″ axle-to-axle may be more suitable, and in between there something in the line of 36/37″ would make sense, but it will come down to fit, draw length and personal preference.

Adjustability

When looking at the offerings from Bowtech and mybo, the level of adjustability is significant. For a technically capable archer, or coach, it’s this could be a huge advantage. For a beginning this may introduce more confusion than is needed.

The likes of Hoyt may not be as adjustable, but if your aim is to set up once and then train and compete while only maintaining the bow after the initial set-up and tuning, this is not an issue.

If you’re however the kind who like to tinker and play, then the ability to easily adjust the cams and timing would be very appealing.

Consideration for youth archers

For growing youth archers, it is recommended to stay away from bows with fixed length modules, like the Mathews Title, or bows with a narrow range of draw length settings, like the older Hoyt Stratos, unless budget isn’t an issue.

Fixed modules can easily set you back US$70 per draw-length change, and that can become expensive in a growth spurt, or while trying to set up a bow with a young, inexperienced archer.

Final thoughts

Whenever possible, shoot the bow before putting your money down for it.

Your local pro shop, or volunteer club coach, is your friend. Try to buy local, as it can save a lot in support.

Also see: Compound Bow for more information.